February 9, 2015

Brazil Soybean Harvest is 10% Complete

Author: Michael Cordonnier/Soybean & Corn Advisor, Inc.

According to AgRural, the soybean harvest in Brazil advanced last week to 10%, which is slightly ahead of the 9% harvested last year and 8% for the five-year average.

Mato Grosso - Harvesting in Mato Grosso is proceeding slower than last year due to persistent wetness. The soybeans in Mato Grosso are 12% harvested compared to 16% last year. Farmers in the state are commenting that their harvest progress is "stop-and-go" depending on the shower activity. They are also moving the combines from field to field to try to find the driest soybeans. Generally, they need about 4 hours of sun to dry the soybeans enough for harvest. Many farmers are commenting that they are being forced to harvest their soybeans at moistures as high as 18%, which they do not want to do because the soybeans then need to be dried before being put in the bin.

In the municipality of Sorriso in central Mato Grosso, the early soybeans are yielding in the range of 30 to 55 sacks per hectare (26 to 47.8 bu/ac) with some quality issues. In Nova Mutum, which is also located in central Mato Grosso, the soybeans are averaging 40 sacks per hectare compared to 46 sacks last year (34.8 bu/ac compared to 40 bu/ac last year).

In their fourth evaluation of the soybean crop in the state, the Mato Grosso Institute of Agricultural Economics (Imea) estimated that 34% of the soybeans will yield above 55 sacks per hectare (47.8 bu/ac) which is what they consider good to excellent, while 32% will yield below 50 sacks per hectare (43.5 bu/ac) which is what they consider poor to very poor. Most of the poor to very poor soybeans are found in northeastern and central Mato Grosso. Most of the good to excellent soybeans are found in western and southeastern Mato Grosso.

Imea started out the growing season estimating that the state would produce 29 million tons of soybeans. They have subsequently lowered the estimate to 27.8 million. If the crop ends up at 27.8 million tons, it would be the first year-on-year decline in soybeans production after six straight years of increases.

Parana - The farmers in Parana took advantage of improved harvesting weather last week to advance the soybean harvest to 24% compared to 16% harvested last year. The western areas of Parana are the most advanced in the harvest. Northern areas of the state are the slowest with yields of the early maturing soybeans in northern Parana averaging 55 sacks per hectare (47.8 bu/ac).

Rio Grande do Sul - The soybeans are flowering and setting pods and they are in generally good condition. The soybean harvest has not yet started in the state, but rainfall during the first days of February helped to relieve some dryness concerns that had developed during the month of January.

Mato Grosso do Sul - The soybean harvest in the state has been somewhat slow due to wet weather with 12% of the crop harvested. In the municipality of Maracaju, the soybeans are being harvested at moistures as high as 18%, which has resulted in some quality issues, but yields thus far have averaged 55 sacks per hectare (47.8 bu/ac).

Goias - The soybean harvest is 7% complete and in the municipality of Jatai, the yields are as high as 63 sacks per hectare (54.8 bu/ac).

Minas Gerais - The only soybeans harvested thus far in the state are irrigated soybeans that were planted in late September. The non-irrigated soybeans will start to be harvested during the second half of February. Statewide, the soybean crop is 5% harvested and as you would expect, the irrigated yields are very good with some yields as high as 76 sacks per hectare (66 bu/ac).

Sao Paulo - Dryer weather last week allowed farmers in the state to advance the soybean harvest to 11%.